Preparation and hydrogen storage kinetics of nanocrystalline and amorphous Mg2Ni-type alloys

In order to obtain a nanocrystalline and amorphous structure in the Mg2Ni-type alloy, the melt spinning technology has been used to prepare the Mg20Ni8M2 (M = Co, Cu) hydrogen storage alloys. The microstructures of the alloys were characterized by XRD, SEM and HRTEM. The effects of the melt spinning on the gaseous and electrochemical hydrogen storage kinetics of the alloys were investigated. The results indicate that the as-spun (M = Co) alloys display a nanocrystalline and amorphous structure as spinning rate grows to 20 m/s, while the as-spun (M = Cu) alloys hold an entire nanocrystalline structure even if a limited spinning rate is applied, suggesting that the substitution of Co for Ni facilitates the glass formation in the Mg2Ni-type alloy. The melt spinning remarkably ameliorates the gaseous hydriding and dehydriding kinetics of the alloys. As the spinning rate is raised from 0 (As-cast was defined as the spinning rate of 0 m/s) to 30 m/s, the hydrogen absorption saturation ratio (R-5(a)), a ratio of the hydrogen absorption capacity in 5 min to the saturated hydrogen absorption capacity, are enhanced from 80.43% to 94.38% for the (M = Co) alloy and from 56.72% to 92.74% for the (M = Cu) alloy. The hydrogen desorption ratio (R-20(d)), a ratio of the hydrogen desorption capacity in 20 min to the saturated hydrogen absorption capacity of the alloy, are increased from 24.52% to 51.67% for the (M = Co) alloy and from 14.89% to 40.37% for the (M = Cu) alloy. Furthermore, the high rate discharge ability (HRD) and the hydrogen diffusion coefficient (D) of the alloys notably mount up with the growing of the spinning rate.